Dakota Midday: Referred Laws 19 And 20

Two laws passed by the legislature this year won’t go into effect today, but instead will go before voters next year. Senate Bill 177 established a youth minimum wage at $7.50, a dollar less than that set by voters in 2014. Senate Bill 69 is an election reform package that includes a provision preventing members of registered parties from signing petitions of independent candidate. It also set back a month the deadline for new parties to declare their intent to participate in primary elections.

Credit Nate Wek SDPB

Both petitions to refer the laws were validated by Secretary of State Shantel Krebs this week. The youth minimum wage referendum is Referred Law 20. The election reform referendum is Referred Law 19.

Aberdeen political blogger Cory Heidelberger sponsored the two petition drives and joined Dakota Midday.

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ACLU leaders have filed a federal lawsuit over a new election deadline for third-party candidates. The lawsuit from the American Civil Liberties Union of South Dakota says an earlier date for new parties to get on the ballot violates Constitutional rights. The case is filed Libertarian Party of South Dakota versus Krebs.

South Dakota lawmakers approved a measure that sets the date a candidate must turn in signed petitions a month earlier than it used to be. In January Secretary of State Shantel Krebs explained to lawmakers that an earlier deadline offers more time for scrutiny.

The U.S. Supreme Court is expected to issue its ruling any day now in King v. Burwell. The ruling will answer the question of whether health insurance subsidies are limited to those states with their own exchanges. If subsidies are limited to the 17 states that established exchanges under the Affordable Care Act, 6.4 million people could lose their insurance subsidies, including some 19,000 South Dakotans.

Three people who represent South Dakota in the nation’s capital are reacting to a US Supreme Court decision to uphold the Affordable Care Act. Thursday six of the nine justices agreed that people are still eligible for insurance subsidies using a federal health insurance exchange. Thirty-four states do not have state-run marketplaces.

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